The Second 10 Best TV Shows of 2012 from The Fien Print

Last week, after already podcasting on it, I posted my Top 10 TV Shows of 2012 in friendly video format.

In case you’ve forgotten:

1) “Mad Men”

2) “Louie”

3) “On Freddie Roach”

4) “Treme”

5) “Parks and Recreation”

6) “Breaking Bad”

7) “Game of Thrones”

8) “Girls”

9) “ESPN’s 30 for 30”

10) “The Hour”

At the time, I mentioned that I had a Second 10 coming at some point, because I always endeavor to be as much like Sepinwall as possible, structurally speaking.

And at the time, I also mentioned that while my Top 8 was set in stone, the last two positions had a lot of competition. When you look at my Second 10, No. 11-15 all were part of an amorphous blob for those last two Top 10 positions and while I like the Top 10 I chose, I wouldn’t have been much less happy with it if it had included two of those other shows.

In fact, this Second 10? I like it a ton. These are some of my very, very favorites. As I look down the list, six of them have made previous Top 10s, including four that were in my Top 10 for 2011. But as much as I love this group of 10, it wasn’t especially easy to cut *this* group down. I don’t think there was as much ambiguity in my mind, but there were still at least five shows that I thought were every bit as deserving. Or maybe not “every bit as deserving,” but a lot deserving.

So I made a list of 10 “Honorable Mentions.” But that list became 20 Honorable Mentions. Then there were another five or six shows that I wanted to salute for improvement this past year. That means this story, while only containing blurbs for 10 shows, mentions at least 36. And the funny thing is that I can still think of more shows that I enjoy in a variety of different ways, shows that even with the parameters expanded this wide, I still couldn’t include.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Anybody who says there’s nothing good on TV is an idiot. Because I probably left out two or three of your favorite shows.

Click through for the list… I’m using HitFix’s new pagination system because this is looooong and unlike when I write a 2000-word review of something like “Beauty and the Beast,” this lends itself easily to splitting.

11) “Boardwalk Empire” – For the second straight season, Terence Winter and company cast Nucky Thompson and the full ensemble cast into disparate corners and then, just when it looked like the narrative threads couldn’t possibly tie together… YANK! The season resolved, joining nearly all of the threads cleanly and powerfully. First time could be coincidence; second time is proof that “Boardwalk Empire” may just be better at full-season arcing than most shows on TV. It was another strong season for Steven Buscemi and Kelly MacDonald and for the entire, often excessively diffused — We want Chalky, Van Alden, Capone and Rothstein EVERY week — supporting cast. And while Bobby Cannavale may not get any points for subtlety, he made Gyp Rosetti into a marvelously operatic adversary.

12) “Shameless” – The thing that people have always said about Showtime was that the network was afraid to let its shows change and evolve, resulting in inevitable ruts. Well, “Dexter” and “Nurse Jackie” [I still need to finish its most recent season] and “Homeland” all made big changes this season. And, in only its second season, “Shameless” also made a shift, one that benefited the entire cast. Already adroit at finding moments of human drama within a sea of impoverished c comedic misery, “Shameless” turned itself inside out in its second season and, with a big assist from guest star Louise Fletcher — absolutely robbed of an Emmy nomination — displayed a welcome willingness to go to some very dark and emotional places. That shift particularly helped William H. Macy de-caricaturize Frank Gallagher, even if the character continued to become a worse and worse person, while Emmy Rossum continued to give one of TV’s great unsung performances. And even as “Shameless” was mining pathos, it still never lost its sense of humor. In fact, why am I writing this blurb when I could be watching my S.3 screeners?

13) “Parenthood” – Welcome proof that shows can still find new gears deep into their fourth season, “Parenthood” appears to have become, at least according to my rankings, network TV’s best drama. It has done that by embracing sentimentality to a degree not seen on TV since Jason Katims’ last show, “Friday Night Lights.” It’s like the “Parenthood” writers have decided that if they’re not making you weepy two or three times per episode — often out of sadness, but just as often out of pure family warmth — then they aren’t doing their job. And with the current arc involving Kristina’s battle with cancer, they’ve only raised the ante. Peter Krause continues to be Emmy-worthy and while it might have sounded odd to say this in the early going, Monica Potter has been shatteringly good as well. Then again, so have Erika Christensen and Sam Jaeger and Max Burkholder and Dax Shepard and Mae Whitman and Miles Heizer. And even if Lauren Graham’s Sarah seems to do EVERYTHING wrong, that’s Sarah’s fault, not Graham’s fault. Sometimes “Parenthood” pushes a bit too hard for my liking, but mostly it earns its heft.

14) “30 Rock” – After looking like it might have overstayed its welcome just a couple years ago, “30 Rock” is suddenly going out on an absolute peak. The spring, which jammed an impressive 22 episodes in between January and May, included highlights like “The Tuxedo Begins” and a second live show. And the fall saw the show very much acknowledging its fate, starting with “The Beginning of the End” and leading up to first Liz Lemon’s nuptials in the tremendously satisfying “Mazel Tov, Dummies!” and then the 2012 finale “My Whole Life Is Thunder,” which may have one of the highest successful punchline rates of any TV episode of the year. We must have forgotten how good “30 Rock” once was to ever doubt that Tina Fey — probably giving her best performances as an actress this season, in addition to some of her best work as writer-producer — and company would be able to stick this landing.

15) “Justified” – Thanks to Margo Martindale’s Mags Bennett, the second season of “Justified” played out like backwoods Shakespeare, full of generational richness and surprising power. “Justified” just didn’t aim as high in its third season and while it slipped out of my Top 10, that doesn’t mean that the pleasure in watching Timothy Olyphant’s expertly badass lead performance was lessened at all. In fact, this may have been Olyphant’s best work to date, particularly in his scenes with Raymond J. Barry’s Arlo. Neal McDonough’s Robert Quarles may not have been a Mags-level villain, but he was sure fun to watch and many, many other pieces of the show’s rogue’s gallery — Jeremy Davies, Jere Burns, Damon Herriman and, as always, Walton Goggins — got episodes or arcs in which to shine as well. Graham Yost and his team continue to supply some of TV’s best muscular dialogue on a weekly basis.

[Continued on the next page.]

16) “Homeland” – The “24” comparisons which seemed to almost all be positive in its Emmy-winning first season became increasingly negative as “Homeland” became a knotty pretzel of narrative contortions in its second installment. Willing suspension of disbelief is a two-way street and, as the second season progressed, it became harder and harder to ignore the myriad convolutions — Situation room texting, hit-and-run evading, surveillance-humping, tailor-dispatching, milk-spilling etc etc etc — and it became harder and harder to ignore that the devotion to Carrie-and-Brody as a doomed-yet-destined romance was engulfing the rest of the show. And some viewers felt betrayed by this shift from Good “24” to Bad “24.” It’d be a mistake, though, to let frustrations entirely supersede the frequently breathless suspense, nor the performances by Claire Danes, Damian Lewis and, even more-so than in the first season, Mandy Patinkin. This is still a proficient and efficient show, but maybe it fooled us with that first season into expecting too much.

17) “Luck” – Even when he goes down an esoteric wormhole, TV is always better when David Milch’s words are being recited by actors on a weekly basis. While easier to philosophically process than “John From Cincinnati,” the jargon-heavy world of horse-racing and handicapping took a while to feel natural, but even when I barely understood a word of it, I still relished Milch’s peculiar cadences and his colorful profanity and respected the work of a tremendous cast led by Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte. It took five or six episodes for “Luck” to feel fully locked in, which proved to be just in time for a top-notch finale and the drama’s sad and untimely cancellation.

18) “Downton Abbey” – I’m watching “Downton Abbey” on its PBS schedule, so this placement is for the show’s second season, which many viewers saw as a rather large come-down from its first. I agree! That’s why “Downton Abbey” was in my Top 5 last year and barely snuck into my Top 20 for this year. But don’t be so distracted by the slightly accelerated soapiness or the one or two conspicuously dead-end narratives that you ignore what a beautiful hour of TV the Christmas Special was, or that you ignore what is still one of TV’s finest ensemble casts, working with some of the finest production values imaginable. Oh and guess what? “Downton Abbey” was all soapy and stuff in the first season. One character literally screwed another character to death! It’s not what they do so much as how they do it and the upstairs and downstairs crews both still do it with wisdom and wit.

19) “The Vampire Diaries” – Still one of the most purely entertaining and exciting and unpredictable shows on television, “The Vampire Diaries” wrapped up a strong spring with a finale that was literally heart-stopping for one character. Following up on Elena’s transformation into vampire-dom hasn’t been quite as successful, even after a very good start to the fall that at least temporarily dodged the possibility of an Elena cop-out. I already didn’t love the sire-based narrative shortcuts as related to Klaus’ hybrids, but taking romantic agency out of Elena’s hands could be one of the show’s bigger mistakes. I assume that Julie Plec and the “TVD” writing team is smarter than that, since they’ve always been smarter than that in the past. Still, I can only judge the show’s 2012 output on the basis of where I’m standing as 2012 ends, which is “slightly concerned.” That concern takes nothing away from the jaw-dropping twists that drop at a rate of three or four per episode, nor from the performances by Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder, Joseph Morgan and the rest of the underrated ensemble. And y’all know I give bonus points for casting Phoebe Tonkin.

20) “The Walking Dead” – The second season of “The Walking Dead” closed strong, as the deceptive calm and quiet at The Farm eventually led to a series of shocking deaths and a hasty exit. The tension has only been amped up in Season 3, with The Prison and Woodbury. While Danai Gurira’s Michonne has been undone by some poor writing decisions, I’ve liked the show’s more pragmatic treatment of David Morrissey’s Governor, who has proved to be a more interesting and nuanced villain than he ever was in Robert Kirkman’s comics. And I definitely show tip my hat to Andrew Lincoln, who wasn’t my favorite part of the show in the early going, but has stepped up his game with a couple powerhouse episodes. It took a while, but the potential of the pilot and the Season 2 premiere is finally being realized on a weekly basis.

A Solid 20 Honorable Mentions: “Bob’s Burgers,” “Sherlock,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal,” “Community,” “Veep,” “Witness,” “Cougar Town,” “New Girl,” “Ben and Kate,” “Awake,” “Raising Hope,” “The Good Wife,” “The L.A. Complex,” “Suburgatory,” “Bunheads,” “Fringe,” “Survivor,” “Happy Endings” [These were in no particular order, but if you’re curious… “Sherlock” was No.21 and HBO’s “Witness” was No. 22. You’ll get more details like that next year when I rank EVERY SHOW ON TV. (I’m not going to rank every show on TV next year.)]

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“At the time, I mentioned that I had a Season 10 coming at some point”

Should be “Second 10”

By: dan

12.29.2012 @ 6:14 AM

Fixed… Thanks!

-Daniel

By: Rich

12.29.2012 @ 6:37 AM

Chalk it up to “your opinion vs. mine” but especially after reading your second top ten and the honorable mentions, I cannot believe that you find The Newsroom to be not only worse than some of these mildly entertaining shows, but one of the worst of the year!? I appreciate someone apeaking their mind, but your support for that decision is totally weak. Not only that but to not appreciate the show enough to leave it off the worst list is just wrong.

By: dan

12.29.2012 @ 6:42 AM

Rich – Sorry, Rich, but I’ve expressed my opinion on “Newroom” in four or five podcasts, as well as in my Worst of Gallery. I’ve supported that opinion in GREAT depth. If you feel that my support was “totally weak” in that one paragraph in the gallery, that’s fine. If you feel that the support of that opinion over the course of a year in multiple media is “totally weak,” you’re wrong. You are MORE than welcome to disagree. Many flavors of opinion make the debate go ’round. And obviously many people agree with you [and some with me]. But my support for my opinions about “Newroom” has been quite thorough.

And I find “Newroom” worse than ALL of these “mildly entertaining shows.”

-Daniel

By: V

12.29.2012 @ 9:34 AM

Danial I TOTALLY support you “20 honorable shows” for REEL however I would be very disappointed if you’ve ignored the most ROMANTIC show EVER “Scandel” or as I call “FORBIDEN LOVE”! Thanks Dan for your opinion so much appreciated! I selute you Man ^_• two thumbs UP

By: a

12.29.2012 @ 3:47 PM

Dan-Not to be totally judgemental or to come of as an ass, but is the pedigree of the Newsroom the reason for the show coming in your worst 10? Is it that we expected more from Sorkin than other writers/showrunners and the Newsroom failed to deliver or is the show really that bad???

By: dan

12.29.2012 @ 5:34 PM

V – Scandal’s in my “honorable mention” field. I contemplated combining it with “Grey’s Anatomy” to cheat and put it in the Top 20, but I decided not to.

A – “Newroom” is in my Worst 10 because no show on TV annoys and frustrates me more and leaves me yelling at my TV with the same level of irritation.

-Daniel

By: Kyle

12.29.2012 @ 9:52 AM

I hope you’re way behind on sons of anarchy or idk how u got your job.

Is American Horror Story THAT bad to most of people? I think it was the best of the season and the most improved this season. It really grabbed my attention. I wished it was the same to everybody.

By: dan

12.29.2012 @ 5:36 PM

Alex_B – “AHS” is absolutely improved this season. I still don’t like it very much. But I also hate it less. It was in my Bottom 10 last year and this year it’s just somewhere in the middle…

-Daniel

By: Jon

12.29.2012 @ 1:39 PM

Vampire Diaries ahead of Sherlock and Walking Dead. This list is a joke.

By: dan

12.29.2012 @ 5:36 PM

Jon- No it’s not.

-Daniel

By: Rob

12.29.2012 @ 2:19 PM

Sir,
Are you sure this is the right list? I’m pretty sure this is the most overrated TV shows. 30 rock, Vampire Diaries? Might as well put Real Housewives on this list.

By: dan

12.29.2012 @ 5:37 PM

Rob – You obviously haven’t been watching “30 Rock” this season. And you obviously don’t watch “Vampire Diaries.” And the equating of “Real Housewives” with those two makes me wonder what you think “overrated” means.

-Daniel

By: troopermsu

12.30.2012 @ 6:19 AM

I don’t get how anybody can call ’30 Rock’ overrated. One episode contains more jokes and laughs than the entire run of ‘Two And A Half Men’, for example. Or pretty much any other current CBS show….

By: iva

12.29.2012 @ 2:40 PM

I love that you’ve included TVD. I’ve just recently binged on it and.. frankly I’ve never seen anything better on CW (not counting the 3rd season of Veronica Mars with their “great” input)

By: Cousin Larry Appleton

12.29.2012 @ 3:52 PM

I have every episode of this most recent season of Fringe backing up on my DVR. Would you say it has been better, worse or equal to last season? Fringe was my favorite drama on network TV for a stretch, but last season didn’t really work for me, and I’ve been hesitant to jump back in.

Nice to see some love for Ben & Kate and Suburgatory, two comedies which seem to go largely ignored. Am I crazy for thinking Ben & Kate was the best new (network) show this year?

By: pog

12.29.2012 @ 5:17 PM

In my opinion, this season of Fringe has been the best so far. Freed from the constraints of having to either make episodes that stand alone or need to chase ratings, I think it’s been one of the more daring science fiction plots seen on TV. I think there’s only been one genuinely “Average” episode, and one plotline was resolved a little too neatly, but honestly, I’d love to sit and watch the whole thing as a marathon. You should get on it.

By: dan

12.29.2012 @ 5:38 PM

Cousin Larry – “Fringe” has definitely been better this year. I’d say that if you watched up to this season, you really ought to watch these last 13, just to close things off…

-Daniel

By: FringeS5Crap

12.30.2012 @ 8:09 PM

Fringe season 5 is hrrible:

Bad cliche setting, the men rule the world, the women are to be used.
Cliche nazi etc.

And season 5 has made me hate Fringe compeltely,

especially for how they erased Olivia, every little iconic thing she had went to Walter or Peter,

all the writing went to Peter and Walter, and bedieds the Robot acting of Josh Jackson
we got the Overacting of John Npble in full force.

Anna Torv , best actress on tv, gets no storyline, has to be the emotional aprt without getting any writing.

Season 4 was a far better season, especially the Over There episodes and the double acting of foremost Anna Torv, second Seth Gabel and Jasika Nicole.

The bad part of season 4 was with Olivia being sacrificed for Peters homecoming thing. where Anna Torv had to do all the hard work for Jackosn with playing 2 blonde Olivias at once,

and the last part of the season was rewritten for Noble, so instead of olivias arc, we got another round of whining selfpity Walter.

The end was the worst possible, but not one critic complained about that, as it was Olivia that was used:
switching on Olivia (who used to be a hero) and killing her like an animal by Walter.

By: FringeS5Crap

12.30.2012 @ 8:32 PM

DO NOT WATCH SEASON 5 OF FRINGE.

Season 5 is a horrible, sexist badly written , badly balanced, cliched crap.

No one would watch it if it would be called Observer and had other actors.

Stay away from it as far as possible, the recontextualizing will make you hate everything you loved about Fringe in the first seasons,

Wyman has proven himself to be a first class Male Chauvinistic Pig,
especially when it comes to the treatment of Olivia Dunham and Anna Torv.

Olivia Dunham in the pilot and until middle season 3:
Hero, fighter, chosen one, special , independent and strong, FBI agent,
Olivia since middle season 3 more and more reduced to peters wife but still the FBI agent and part of the story potential,
Olivia season 5:
Peters wife, treated by Peter as dirt, and getting 4 episodes in a row these lines:
I love you, I need you, I do not ant to lose you,

Wyman spent all his time writing for his favorite
boys Josh Jackson and John Noble.
and Anna Torv has been asked to show all aspects of Olivia with non-verbal acting, at the service of Jackson and Noble.
she does it brilliantly, but gets no credit,
nothing from Wyman.

If Wyman would do this to Noble or Jackson all would be outraged,
but hey it is only Anna Torv, who cares ???

So where is the tv media with their criticism, or does a female lead not deserve at least 5% of the
material overload especially Noble gets all the time?

I guess you had some presents from Fox/Warner Brothers/Wyman as well?
In return the media has to praise this season and praise Noble, as he seems to be the only actor on Fringe that gets the material for needing his Emmy.
Every other showrunner would love to have Anna Torv as the lead, and would give her all the material possible to get her the credit she deserves.

So many people are hating season 5 of Fringe, they just watch because it is nearing the end,
and especially Olivia fans are totally disgusted with what Wyman has done to Olivia.

POG clearly is one of those sent by Wyman to manipulate, they are at other palces as well.

Season 5 of Fringe is horrible, cliche, sexist,
every bad B-C nazi movie is better than this crap.

By: zero

12.31.2012 @ 2:05 PM

@FringeS5crap
Agree on the killing of Olivia. A total 180 turn around. As always, characters like her are assassinated in the end. I stopped watching it after the second-third episode of S5 because I couldn’t handle it. I watched the latest episode aired and it was a sappy, cheesy mess. Don’t get me started on cheesy Olivia which is not Olivia at all. Why people think that women are all cheesy needy creatures who always say “I love you, I miss you, I need you”?

By: tigger500

12.29.2012 @ 4:35 PM

Totally agree about the sire bond storyline. I loathe it.

By: dan

12.29.2012 @ 5:42 PM

Tigger500 – It could get better! I have faith!

-Daniel

By: Sareeta

12.29.2012 @ 4:40 PM

Nice list. There has been a lot written/discussed lately about the level of violence on TV’s best dramas, so it is nice to be reminded of some of the great dramas with little to no violence at all (Bunheads is a good example).

Dan, have you been following the final season of Fringe and are you or Alan going to discuss the finale in a couple weeks? I feel like it has been an interesting final season, but that it is probably best reviewed after the whole thing is over.

By: dan

12.29.2012 @ 5:40 PM

Sareeta – I’ve been following “Fringe” to the end. Alan checked out fairly long ago. I must confess, though, that part of why I’ve been enjoying this season is not needing to over-invest in it or think too heavily about things. The show frustrates me when I think too hard on it. So I’m probably gonna resist writing anything about the finale unless it’s AWESOME or HORRIBLE. Anything else and I’ll just try to enjoy it casually…

-Daniel

By: PC 2.0

12.29.2012 @ 4:44 PM

So happy to see Shameless at #12! It’s so well done and the cast chemistry is perfect, and the writing is fearless and Emmy Rossum is a delight.

By: Morrie

12.29.2012 @ 4:56 PM

I haven’t kept up on Sons of Anarchy the last couple years, but is it on most improved because it actually had a bad season last year? Also I watch every show 11-20 except Luck and love them.

By: dan

12.29.2012 @ 5:42 PM

Morrie – Last “SOA” season was a huge less. This season was more narratively focused, even with some bloated 90 minute episodes, so I enjoyed it much more. Personally.

-Daniel

By: CC

12.29.2012 @ 5:01 PM

GOOD GOD WHAT TV ARE YOU WATCHING.HOW DO LEAVE OUT SHOWS LIKE THE BIG BANG THEORY AND NCIS.ALSO ELEMENTARY IS ONE OF THE BEST NEW SHOWS,AS IS VEGAS.

By: dan

12.29.2012 @ 5:41 PM

CC – This particular list that you’re looking at contains a listing of at least 36 things I’m watching on TV that I just happen to prefer to “The Big Bang Theory,” “Elementary” and “Vegas,” all shows I happen to watch (and often enjoy) regularly.

No need to shout!

-Daniel

By: Andrew S

12.29.2012 @ 5:53 PM

I know it’s a little off topic, but the way FX deals with on demand completely baffles me. Are they trying to push people to buy the episodes on iTunes or other services, or are they just completely incompetent in this regard?

By: dan

12.29.2012 @ 6:03 PM

Andrew – I think they’re trying to push people to iTunes and also to the FX website, which I *think* has episodes available more conveniently? It’s irksome, as is the entirely unrelated FX cutback on screeners to critics…

It annoys me, because I love those comedies, but if I fall a handful of episodes behind, it becomes really, really hard to catch up.

-Daniel

By: GarySF

01.02.2013 @ 7:08 PM

Last time I checked, shows don’t appear any faster on the FX site than on On Demand. Which means when I missed an episode of SOA, I basically fell one week behind for the rest of the season. Which means I didn’t watch the season finale until 8 days after it aired. Not that I was missing too much.

By: nym

12.29.2012 @ 8:08 PM

Dan, can you expand on ranking Sherlock at #21? It’s in my personal top 10, so I’m curious about your feelings on the show. I get the feeling that critics give it less consideration than other shows because of the 3 episode seasons.

By: dan

12.29.2012 @ 8:14 PM

NYM – I like “Sherlock” a lot. I do suspect that my consideration for it is *slightly* diminished by the reduced output, but in terms of time, “Sherlock” didn’t have significantly less output than “The Hour,” which made my Top 10. I thought two of the three “Sherlock” installments this year/season were terrific and I liked the Baskervilles just fine. “Sherlock” was comfortably in my Second 10 and then I kept remembering other shows that I’d forgotten that I wanted to be there more and so it got bumped and bumped and bumped and then I had 11 shows in my Second 20. I mentioned earlier in the comments that I thought about combining “Scandal”/”Grey’s Anatomy” as a Shonda Rhimes double. Well, I also thought about combining “Dowton”/”Sherlock” in a PBS/”Masterpiece” double. But when I decided not to cheat, that’s where “Sherlock” ended up…

-Daniel

By: Harry

12.29.2012 @ 9:01 PM

“And y’all know I give bonus points for casting Phoebe Tonkin.”
Oh please, that was so unnecessary. She’s not all that. That was no need to mention her in there and I don’t buy that she has anything to do with TVD being in that place in that list. I actually expected this in the 11-14 slots.

Also, Survivor makes the honeorable mention list, but not Big Brother? BB was great TV this summer!

By: dan

12.29.2012 @ 9:06 PM

Harry – Twas a joke. Phoebe Tonkin has nothing to do with where “TVD” is on my list, but she’s a nice bonus.

As good as “Big Brother” can sometimes be — and this was ABSOLUTELY a good “Big Brother” season — I’m incapable of forgiving the amount of time that the show makes me waste for those good moments. Did “Big Brother” had a half-dozen tremendous moments this past summer? Totally. Was it worth three freakin’ hours every week? Nothing is, really… When there was legitimately nothing on TV in the summer, three hours of “Big Brother” was a fine way of twiddling my thumbs waiting for something better to come along. Now, it’s an imposition. The filler-to-awesome ratio is just too biased towards the former.

For me…

-Daniel

By: Harry

12.29.2012 @ 9:30 PM

Fair enough, Dan.

By: Lana

12.29.2012 @ 9:42 PM

I really like both your top 10 list (except that I don’t know those documentaries and i’m not a fan of sports) and your 11-20 list. I like that you didn’t feel obligated to place Breaking Bad at the top of the list, this past season was a minor letdown for sure. I’m very happy with the Shameless placing. It pleases me when that show gets recognition, I really love it and can’t wait for season 3. Maybe i’m a little surprised you didn’t honorable mention Nashville, and maybe even Arrow, though that might be a reach. Also A+ for your photo choices, those are three hot people right there.

Well done, Dan! (Do you prefer to be called Daniel? I noticed you sign Daniel, but everyone calls you Dan – or maybe it’s just Alan on the podcast and I made that up)

By: dan

12.30.2012 @ 12:27 AM

Lana – There’s no logic to when I’m “Dan” and when I’m “Daniel.” I’ve always been “Daniel” in writing, but I seem to be “Dan” on the podcast.

“Arrow” came closer than “Nashville” to making honorable mention…If I’d gone to *30* honorable mentions, “Arrow” definitely would have made it. But come on… 30 honorable mentions? That’s just crazy!!! :-)

-Daniel

By: Joyeful

12.30.2012 @ 12:43 AM

Really? Arrow over Nashville? That surprises me. I love both shows, but I thought Nashville was the critics’ darling this year.

By: dan

12.30.2012 @ 12:59 AM

Joyeful – I’m my own man, darnit! Ultimately, “Arrow” comes much closer to achieving its weekly goals than “Nashville” does, even if I like elements of “Nashville” a fair amount.

-Daniel

By: Bailey

12.29.2012 @ 10:18 PM

So happy to see LA Complex on this list! Now please send this to the CW and demand that they renew it!!!

By: Alana

12.29.2012 @ 10:51 PM

Uh, where’s Castle?

By: dan

12.30.2012 @ 12:28 AM

Alana – “Castle” is one of many shows that I watch and enjoy every week that just didn’t make it. But I say nice things about it periodically!

-Daniel

By: Joyeful

12.30.2012 @ 12:42 AM

I LOVE Castle, but I wouldn’t put it above any of the shows on this list. Though I will say it has improved from its last season. It’s way more fun than season 4.

By: mitt romney

12.29.2012 @ 11:53 PM

How is MTV’s “Teen Mom 2” not on this list?!!?

By: Joyeful

12.30.2012 @ 12:39 AM

One of the most improved shows this year – I think – is Grimm. Apart from one really slow (and irritating) character and storyline, the show has started better utilizing its characters, the lead actor seems WAY more comfortable, and the stories are even more compelling and complex. How I wish someone would review it here!

By: dan

12.30.2012 @ 12:46 AM

Joyeful – Sepinwall and I revisited it this fall on a podcast and yeah, it’s better. It still just doesn’t have enough to hook me. I place a lot of the blame on David Giuntoli. He’s just too bland for me. I really like Silas Weir Mitchell. I’d watch a show about him!

-Daniel

By: Joyeful

12.30.2012 @ 1:30 AM

Fair enough. I can see your point…Giuntoli was extremely wooden in the first half of the first season. I remember reading a post Sepinwall wrote mentioning that. I kept watching because of Silas Weir Mitchell and Sasha Roiz. Not so much so now….Giuntoli is so much better than he was before.

He reminds me of Anna Torv from the first season of Fringe – I found her incredibly bland then. Wished I had given her more of a chance…found out afterwards how great she was.

By: troopermsu

12.30.2012 @ 6:26 AM

Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t see ‘The Simpsons.’ Has it simply gotten too familiar to be considered outstanding any longer?

By: dan

12.30.2012 @ 6:41 AM

TrooperMSU – If I’d gone to a next tier or 10 or even 5, “The Simpsons” would have been there easily. I remembered it after I’d finished the Honorable Mention 20 and I went back and couldn’t find anything I wanted to pull. Sorry, “Simpsons”!!!

-Daniel

By: troopermsu

12.30.2012 @ 7:05 AM

Ok.

I think it would be cool if you had a category called something like, ‘Shows I like to watch but don’t merit distinction’ or something like that. Maybe that’s overkill. But, I’d find it interesting. It might also help illustrate your point about number of good shows available these days (a point with which I agree completely.)

Good job with these end-of-year lists. And I think this has been your strongest year as a writer. I’ve really enjoyed your work in 2012.

By: dan

12.30.2012 @ 7:11 AM

TrooperMSU – That would be the “Everything I Watch And Kinda Like” and “Everything i Watch But Kinda Don’t Like” categories. Those lists might expose me as a full-on lunatic, I fear.

And thank you!

-Daniel

By: troopermsu

12.30.2012 @ 10:59 PM

Daniel, I’m afraid that horse has left the barn. :)

By: Peter D Wilson

12.30.2012 @ 3:33 PM

I can’t wait to see your rankings of every show on tv next year! (I cant seem to read the words in the parentheses).

By: Jamie

12.31.2012 @ 12:03 AM

Where is Pretty Little Liars? I LOVE THE SHOW. IT IS PERFECT!

By: tvgirlnet

12.31.2012 @ 8:44 AM

I’m surprised that Breaking Bad is #6, when it’s one of the best shows in television history and just keeps getting better. Mad Men didn’t even have its strongest season. It’s a disappointment that you can’t separate the comedies from dramas, because I just can’t even compare a show like ‘Girls’ to ‘Mad Men.’ Not sure what you see in The Vampire Diaries. I watched the first season and it was terrible. I know not everyone is in love with ‘Boss,’ but not even an honorable mention for Grammer’s amazing performance? If Grey’s Anatomy gets a shout-out, I think Boss at least deserves one…

By: tvgirlnet

12.31.2012 @ 8:54 AM

I love this list though (although The Vampire Diaries puzzles me – did it get better after the first season?), and you made me want to watch a couple shows as well. I’m really glad you included Treme. It is so underrated and David Simon is just genius. Parks and Rec, another great one for the top 10 that constantly gets overlooked. I also think Homeland is vastly overrated this season and it’s finally nice to NOT see it in someone’s top 5 shows. Justified is another vastly underrated show….I’m so glad to see some of the underrated shows on a list! :) Also, I love Downton, but agree that is was a downgrade from season one, unfortunately. Thanks so much for sharing!

By: tvgirlnet

12.31.2012 @ 9:15 AM

Off to watch Shameless now….I’ve heard so many negative things about it that I’ve stayed away, but this got my attention.

By: GarySF

01.02.2013 @ 7:04 PM

Thought Sons of Anarchy became ridiculous and much of the time boring this season. Not on my honorable mentions.

By: Mitch

01.03.2013 @ 5:25 AM

I respect your opinion, but out of all this i think “Psych” should be number one, with “Doctor Who” and “Sherlock” following behind in that order.